Siggi's Icelandic Yogurt

Firstly, I should point out that I have no financial interest in siggi's and they have not given me any incentive to write this article.  There has been a lot of craze over Greek yogurt, lately.  A lot of this stems from the increased level of protein and the reduced sugar compared to traditional yogurt found in North America.  Insert Siggi's, the Icelandic version of Greek yogurt... if I can say that.  Siggi's began in 2004 in a small New York City apartment.  It is a high-protein, thick and creamy yogurt with very little added.  According to the website:

True to Icelandic tradition, siggi's products do not contain any artificial preservatives, thickeners, sweeteners, flavors or colors, and are made with milk from family farms who do not use growth hormones such as rBGH.

- siggisdairy.com

Siggi's has an arrangement of natural flavor options. These also include skyr's with either 0%, 2% or even 4% milk-fat.

The benefits of skyr, the Icelandic yogurt, is the fact that it contains less sugar and even more protein than that found in Greek yogurts.  Protein is, in my opinion, is the most important of the macro-nutrients.  No, not because I am a muscle head and think it will lead to gaining mass but because it is what will keep you full for longer periods of time.  Protein is also harder for your body to break down and consequently burns more calories in digestion, compared to fats and carbohydrates.  In a 5.3 oz container of "siggi's plain skyr" there are 0g of fat, 5g of carbohydrates (4 g of which come from sugar) and 15 g of protein.  This is an excellent option for pairing with other foods, see their recipes section for ideas.

The 0% milk-fat Vanilla Skyr is my morning go-to. It contains 0g of fat, 11g of carbs and a heavy 14g dose of protein and a bit of calcium... all in 100 calories.

Myself, I like to have one of the 5.3 oz containers almost immediately after I wake up in the morning.  My personal favorite is the 0% milk fat Vanilla yogurt because I can eat it on it's own.  This contains 0% fat, 11g of carbs (9g of sugar), and 14g of protein.  The benefit of eating this upon waking up is a few fold.  The first, is the fact that I constantly wake up hungry, maybe it's the fact that I have never skipped breakfast and think those who do are crazy... it's got the best choice of food options of all the meals, by far.  Secondly, the 9 g of sugar really help me for my high-intensity morning workouts.  It gives my body some fuel after a long night of fasting (if I get the amount of sleep I am hoping for).  The final reason is also related to this idea of breaking our fast.  When you wake up in the morning, your levels of cortisol, a glucocorticoid stress hormone, are elevated due to this fasting and low levels of blood glucose. Consumption of protein and a little bit of sugar will lower levels of cortisol in the blood.  Reducing the level of corical will ramp up your immune system again, and reduce the metabolism of protein, fat and carbohydrate.  When training, you want to reduce as much "stress" on your body as possible, be it mental of physical.

The only caveat that I have with this product, is the consistency. If you are a nut about consistency, keep in mind that this is definitely a thick yogurt.  I recommend to eat up and choose from their list of yogurts with either 0% or 2% milk fat and know that you are getting a protein dense energy boost right when you wake up.